Maple Tattoo Supply is a Canadian online store for professional tattoo supplies, including equipment, consumables and accessories for studios and independent artists. The owners launched the Shopify store from scratch. Its offer was competitive on price and range, but it began with no indexing, keyword research or reputation signals. Major marketplaces and suppliers already served this Canadian niche, so simply opening a store was not enough.
Launch an SEO program for a Canadian store built from scratch.
This required a sound technical foundation on Shopify and a catalogue structured around search demand. The goal was to earn the first organic sales without paid-ad spend during the first months.
The launch strategy rested on three pillars: technically sound Shopify, a catalogue designed around real demand, and content that helps shoppers move towards checkout.
- Completed the Shopify technical setup: indexability, correct redirects, mobile speed and clean product and category URL structures.
- Researched the niche, covering equipment types, branded supplies, “buy + model” searches and artists’ informational questions about choosing and using products.
- Designed the catalogue around demand, with categories by product type and studio use case, supported by descriptions rather than empty listings.
- Created metadata templates and product-card content, including unique descriptions, answers to shopper questions and structured data for rich results.
- Published informational guides on choosing equipment and materials to attract early visitors and strengthen trust in product pages.
- Set up monitoring for impressions, clicks and rankings across priority query groups, with weekly priority updates.
For a new domain, earning the first relevant signals quickly was critical. We started with a focused set of product searches with medium and low competition. They brought the first sales and behavioral signals, after which the work moved into the most competitive equipment categories.
By month six, the store was receiving about 120,000 Google impressions and 4,800 search clicks per month, with its first organic sales from week ten. The case materials also report 340+ Top 10 queries and an average CTR of 4%.
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Monthly Google impressions by month 6 | 0 → about 120,000 |
| Monthly search clicks | 0 → about 4,800 |
| Queries in Top 10 | 340+ |
| Average SERP CTR | 4.0% |
| First regular organic sales | From week 10 |
Metrics are transcribed from the original case materials. A period is stated where it is recorded in the source.
The store has moved into sustained growth, with four areas to strengthen next:
- Expand categories with dedicated landing pages for narrower equipment types and searches.
- Create manufacturer brand pages to attract branded and semi-branded queries.
- Prepare seasonal collections for demand peaks, such as studio openings and gift sets, early enough for indexing.
- Build GEO visibility so AI services can surface the store in answers about choosing tattoo equipment in Canada.
Related source: Source case